Copyright © EduQuad 2021, All rights reserved Page 32 EduQuad (International Refereed Journal of Education) www.edu-quad.com Volume 2, Issue 1, June’2022 EFFECT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF BENUE STATE POLYTECHNIC STUDENTS, UGBOKOLO - NIGERIA ATIM, Dekera Gerald Department of Educational Foundations and General Studies, Joseph Saawuan Tarka University (Formerly, Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi) geraldatim@gmail.com (http://orcid.org/0000-05426863) Bem S. MAGUN Department of Mass Communication, Benue State Polytechnic Ugbokolo. magun@gmail.com Member Comfort MAOR Government Model Secondary School, Makurdi, Benue State-Nigeria comfortmembermaor97@gmail.com Rejoice Dooshima ATIM Department of English and Literary studies Benue State University Makurdi atimrejoice343@gmail.com ADI, MANASSEH Ternenge Information and Protocol Unit, Office of the Vice-Chancellor , FederalUniversity Wukari, Taraba, Nigeria manassehadi@gmail.com https://ORCID.org/0000.0003-1775-3765 ABSTRACT This paper explored the effects of social media on the students' academic performance of Benue State Polytechnic Ugbokolo, a descriptive survey research design, simple random sampling technique and purposive sampling were implored, also four research questions guided the study. The research findings showed that a great number of students from Benue State Polytechnic had access to the internet. The researcher recommended that more sites should be created for academic purposes as this is will create a balance between social media and academic activities of students in order to avert setbacks in the academic performances of the students. Keywords: Social Media, Academics, Performance, Academic Performance ________________________________________________________________________________________